Chained Wolf
by ColonelKlink15
Summary: Obligatory don't own any Dragon Age games or characters. Hope you enjoy my Hawke and Fenris lovers quarrel.


Chained Wolf

"Where is Hawke?!" Fenris shouted, throwing open the door to the rogue's mansion in Hightown. The pirate and dwarf who stood in the front room sharply turned at the sound of the elf's enraged entrance. Varric quickly stood from the desk as Fenris stalked angrily to the center of the room, his lyrium tattoos glowing in the dancing fire light.

"Calm down, kitten. Anders is with Hawke right now. He will have her fixed up in no time." Isabela said, leaning against the nearest book shelf.

"Is that supposed to comfort me? As if magic could fix what happened due to his arrogance." The elf hissed back.

"My arrogance?" Anders cut in, walking down the stairs and wiping his bloodied hands on a tattered rag.

"You." Fenris growled.

Before any of them had time to react, the Tevinter slave had crossed the distance between them and grabbed the mage by his throat. Dragging him to the nearby wall, Fenris slammed the man into it with a sickening thud. As Anders gasped and clutched at the armored elf's hand, Varric and Isabela lept into action to stop him from killing their companion.

"Hawke was injured protecting you. She nearly died protecting scum like you." Fenris seethed.

"It's funny, mage. All that power, all that anger, and you still can't stop me as I choke the life out of you." He chuckled darkly, tightening his grip.

"Fenris, stop! You'll kill him!" Varric said pulling on the elf's arm.

"That's the idea."

"That's quite enough, boys. Put away the rulers and tie up your trousers." Isabela said after finally breaking the Tevinter's grip on the healer. Ander's breathed deeply as he rubbed his bruised throat and Fenris tore his arms away from the others. Sensing that he was no longer in danger of killing the man, the pair stepped back from the glowing elf. He closed his eyes, trying to contain the boiling anger that threatened to spill over and burn any who stood too close.

"I should have been there. I could have protected her if only I had-" Fenris began before suddenly stopping short. His markings slowly faded their harsh blue light as his anger waned. Instead of the fury that had been so prevalent moments ago, the man's eyes were now filled with a broken look that none of them had ever seen before.

"Where is she?" He asked quietly after a few moments of silence.

"Upstairs, resting in her bed. I used as much healing magic as I'm capable of right now. She'll be bed ridden for a week or two, but she will recover." Anders replied.

"Good. Now all of you… Get out." Fenris said, his voice even but his tone suggesting there was no room to question the order. Quickly and quietly, the trio packed up their gear and shut the door behind them as they left.

The warrior clutched the wooden bannister of the stairs as he quietly ascended the steps. What scene awaited him behind Hawke's thick wooden door? The urchin who had told Fenris of the incident had merely said the Champion had been badly injured shielding Ander's from an attack. That had been enough to send the elf running through the dark streets of Hightown, his tattoos awakening with his growing unease.

Fenris stopped just in front of the door, taking in a deep breath before slowly pushing it open and looking inside. Hawke's Mabari laid on her bed, his large head resting against her hip. He quickly looked to size up the intruder but began to happily wag his tail once he recognized the white haired elf. The Champion of Kirkwall opened her eyes at her pup's movement and softly smiled as she saw her lover standing by the doorway.

"Honey, I'm home." Hawke said, a wry smile on her lips.

Fenris said nothing in reply, just looked at the sight of his battered love as she struggled to sit up in her condition. His heart filled with pain at the sight of her sickly pale skin and the heavy bandage wrapped around her chest and ribs. Fenris could see the red that bloomed from the wound under the coarse fabric, staining the blankets surrounding her. The man slowly entered the room, the metallic smell of blood and the dusty scent of books growing stronger as he came closer. A wooden chair sat next to the bed, a leather bound book laying where Fenris could only assume Ander's once was. Silent as a ghost, he moved the heavy tome to the ground and sat in the chair, his green eyes never leaving his beloved's face.

"I'm doing fantastic, thanks for asking." Hawke said trying to ease the deafening silence.

"This is no time for joking" He said in a low voice.

"I personally think knocking on death's door is the perfect time for inappropriate jokes." She weakly laughed.

"You could've died, Hawke!" He shouted, his anger bringing him back to his feet.

"But I didn't! Notice me, here, alive?" She yelled back as one of her arms wrapped around her bandaged ribcage.

"I begged you to take me with you, but you refused. What if I had lost you? What if Ander's magic hadn't been enough to heal you?"

"It's not as bad as-"

"You nearly lost your life protecting that abomination!"

"Well, I couldn't very well watch as they cut down my friend."

"Your loyalty is touching, misplaced as it is." He huffed, sitting back down.

"Fenris, as much as I do enjoy our playful sparring, I believe I need to lie back down." Hawke groaned, sinking slowly till her head hit the pillow.

"I'll leave you to rest." Fenris said curtly before going to stand.

"No! Please stay, Fenris." The rogue insisted, grabbing his hand and holding fast.

"You need to rest, Hawke."

"Which I will, if you stay. You know the trouble I get into if I'm left alone." She joked.

"All too well, I'm afraid." He said, crossing his legs as he adjusted in his seat.

Content that he no longer intended to leave, Hawke settled deeper into the blankets and began to stroke the velvet head of her Mabari. The dog whined softly, nustling his head into her palm and licking Hawke with his rough tongue.

"Will you read to me?" Hawke asked, looking at her handsome companion.

"I sound like a child when I try, you know that." He replied dryly.

"Oh come on, you know I can't resist those deep broody tones of yours. Plus, this will help you practice." She laughed before it turned into a hacking cough. A small amount of blood dripped down the Champion's chin as she finished wheezing, which her loved one tenderly wiped away.

"I'm pathetic, Fenris. Do me a favor and indulge me." She grinned.

"Self pity doesn't suit you." He replied, but grabbing the book next to him all the same then reading the title aloud.

"The History of the Chantry by Brother Gen-Genitivi."

"Sounds riveting." She replied.

"There has not been a b-blight in over four...cent-centuries, since the hero….G-Gara.." Fenris stammered, a scowl breaking over his tanned face as he tried to sound out the difficult word.

"Gara Hell… Garahel!" He said triumphantly when he had finally pronounced the arduous name.

"Since the hero Garahel defeated the Archdemon at the b-battle of…" The Tevinter trailed off as he stared down the page. Fenris leaned towards the bed, turning the book so Hawke could see the part giving him trouble.

"Ayesleigh. It's where the battle took place." She said.

"Ayeshhleiigh." He repeated slowly.

"Ayesleigh."

"Ayesleigh." Fenris replied confidently.

"Good job."

"Over a hund-red, hundred years later in 6:30 Steel Age, the f-first Qunari ships were reported off the co-coast of Par Vollen." Fenris continued to read, flipping the page.

The two continued that way for quite some time. Hawke listened to the elf's deep voice as he spoke about terrible war and Chantry sister's all over Thedas. She absentmindedly pet the soundly sleeping Mabari as she watched his light eyebrows crinkle and crease with his efforts.

"You actually enjoy reading this stuff?" The man asked, glancing up from the book and looking at her inquisitively.

"Not particularly. I do appreciate you glaring at paper though." Hawke smirked.

"You take enjoyment in the strangest things." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"You know me, Fenris. Where's the fun in life if I can't get my guts ripped out by some assassin in Lowtown?"

Fenris's smile slowly faded as he realized what Hawke had just said to him. The troubled and concerned look he had worn earlier replaced it as he set the thick volume down. The contentment and happiness the pair had felt only moments ago had been quickly replaced with an uneasy tension that neither knew how to break.

"Fenris, I had to-"

"I understand why you did it Hawke. Had you taken me, I would have been the one you protected. You would have suffered the same wound and I would have been powerless to help. Having the mage there saved your life and I understood that the moment I heard what had happened." The elf suddenly cut in.

"Then why were you so worried?" She asked, sitting up.

Fenris stood and began to pace at the end of the bed, running his fingers through his pale hair. Whatever justification the Tevinter had for his erratic behavior, admitting it seemed to give him a fair amount of trouble. Suddenly, the warrior stopped his movement and turned to look at the broken rogue on the bed.

"I owned nothing in my time as a slave. The clothes I wore, the food I ate, even the air I breathed belonged to Danarius. I had never possessed anything, so I could not fathom the pain caused by losing what one cared for. Even my own life seemed like an unimportant loss to finally be rid of my master. There are no chains in death." He said, his tone low.

"What I'm saying, Hawke…. Is that your love is the first and only thing I have ever feared to lose. When I heard you had been injured, all I could think of was a future where I again no longer cared what I lost. That the one thing I had come to treasure would soon be gone. The idea alone was too much to bear."

The Champion didn't say anything for a moment, her eyes wide. Silently, Hawke held up her hand and offered it the the lyrium marked elf. Walking around the bed to sit in the empty chair, he took it in his and gently kissed the top of her slender fingers.

"My heart will always belong to you, just as yours will always belong to me. We could never be truly lost to each other, Fenris." Hawke finally said after a few moments.

Fenris smiled sadly as he gripped Hawke's thin hand and looked at her kind face. Tears welled in his eyes and threatened to spill over and down his cheeks at any moment. Slowly he leaned forward and began to plant featherlight kisses over Hawke's face. His touch was full of tenderness and care as he started by her forehead, then to the tip of her nose, and eventually found his way to her lips. She returned it happily, hoping it would bring some comfort and assurance to her love.

" _The chains are broken, but are you truly free?"_ Fenris suddenly thought; The question Flemeth had asked him so long ago ringing in his head.

" _Once the idea of ever belonging to another person terrified me;To have those bonds of servitude and ownership wrapped around my heart, barring all else from entering. But this… it's different somehow. I would happily give myself to this woman, body, mind and soul if she asked it of me. If this love is chains that will hold me captive, I will willingly wear them till the day I die."_ He thought, pulling away from the kiss. As Fenris looked into Hawke's loving eyes, a thought occurred to him that made the elf smile with the irony of it all.

" _How naive of me, to think I was free from confinement and servitude. I have simply traded one master for another…. and may I never be free of her."_


End file.
